Western Cape dog thefts uncovered

Arrests in connection with the smuggling of dogs from South Africa to Angola has shed light on dog thefts in the Western Cape, police said on Wednesday.

Constable Zita Norman said the arrests of three men linked to smuggling dogs groomed for fighting had led to police investigating the theft of dogs in Tokai, Kirstenhof and the surrounding areas.

She could not say when the men were arrested. "The problem of dog thefts became so wide-spread, that dogs were reported stolen in Philippi, Kuils River, Mitchells Plain, Knysna and Tongaat in Durban."

Police suspected members of the syndicate were on the run in the Western Cape.

"A huge group of suspected stolen dogs were recovered and [are] being kept at a Bellville premises."

Norman said the dogs were handed over at border posts between South Africa and Angola, Namibia and Zimbabwe.